Sri Lanka, who were at the third spot before the start of the Test match, have now slipped to the sixth position with 48.15 winning per cent.
Afour-wicket win over Sri Lanka has helped Pakistan to move up on the World Test Championship points table. Young opener Abdullah Shafique remained unbeaten on 160 as Pakistan chased down a 342-run target at Galle. It was Pakistan’s second highest ever successful run-chase in Test cricket.
Wednesday’s win was Pakistan’s fourth in the ongoing World Test Championship cycle as their current winning percentage is 58.33. They pipped Sri Lanka to move to the third spot. However, South Africa, who beat India earlier this year in the Test series, are at the top of the table with a 71.43 winning percentage. While Pat Cummins’s Australia are in the second spot with a winning percentage of 70 in the ongoing, they failed to reach the final in the last cycle.
While India, who recently lost the rescheduled fifth Test match against England, are behind Pakistan at the fourth spot with 52 per cent.
Sri Lanka, who were at the third spot before the start of the Test match, have now slipped to the sixth position with 48.15 winning per cent.
Meanwhile, Shafique hit the winning runs in the final session of play on day five to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
Left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya took a match haul of nine wickets but his efforts were in vain as Pakistan battled past the previous best chase in Galle of 268 by Sri Lanka against New Zealand in 2019.
“We know how to play spin so we believed,” Azam said after the tense win.
“When I was batting with Abdullah Shafique we were just trying to build a partnership. He has shown his class.”
Shafique, who was named man of the match, said: “It was difficult but with time it was easier. Babar is one of the best in the world. We have learnt so much from him. I enjoyed batting with him in the middle.”
“With the ball we could not support Prabath from the other end. We had to give him more support,” skipper Dimuth Karunaratne said of his lead spinner, who toiled for 95.2 overs in the two innings combined.
(With Agency Inputs)
